EDITOR'S CHOICE -- SCOTT SUTTELL

John Kasich could be prototype for Republicans to follow

Blog Entry: August 15, 2013 11:34 AM | Author: SCOTT SUTTELL

Political commentators often call on the Republican Party to adopt a more centrist approach to governing. This story in The Wall Street Journal says that's happening in Ohio, where Gov. John Kasich “is using his perch to promote a blend of conservative orthodoxy leavened with liberal policies meant to help the poor, the mentally ill and the uninsured.”

To be sure, the story notes, the Republican governor likes to talk about signing what he calls "the biggest tax cut in the country" — standard stuff for a GOP politician.

But The Journal says the 61-year-old former Lehman Brothers executive is more nuanced than that and “wants to rebrand the Republican Party by refashioning what it means to be a conservative in the 21st century.”

From the story:

On the one hand, he tamed a deficit by slashing funding to local governments and overhauling the state's Medicaid rules, among other things. He has eliminated the state's estate tax and wants to phase out all state income taxes, a step aimed at stimulating growth. A budget he signed in June included a range of new abortion restrictions that drew sharp criticism from Democrats.

At the same time, Mr. Kasich has stirred strong opposition from tea-party leaders — and won surprised approval from liberals — by pushing to expand Medicaid coverage to nearly 300,000 additional Ohioans, adopting a provision of the Obama health-care overhaul that he has taken to defending with an openly religious fervor.

The former congressional spending hawk has steered millions more dollars into local food banks, forced insurance companies to provide coverage for children with autism and signed legislation to make it easier for recently released felons to clear their names and find jobs.

The story notes that Gov. Kasich's critics “dismiss (such moves) as an opportunistic bid to boost his once-abysmal poll numbers.” That might be true, but the strategy seems to have worked, as Gov. Kasich has a lead — in the polls and especially in fundraising dollars — over his Democratic opponent next year, Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald.

If Gov. Kasich wins re-election, “he could provide his party with its most extensive model for a softer brand of conservatism,” The Journal says.

"John is showing, perhaps more visibly than anyone, that conservatives can care deeply about those who are overlooked and are at risk of being left behind," says Ed Gillespie, a former national Republican Party chairman. "This is a very important thing for our party to demonstrate."

This and that

Safety first: It's back-to-school time, which can mean only one thing — parental anxiety about school safety, according to this USA Today story, which quotes Cleveland-based school safety consultant Ken Trump.

More than 450 bills have been introduced in statehouses this year on school security measures, according to the newspaper.

“After thousands of hours of debate, what emerged at the state level are relatively small-scale plans to pay for security upgrades like adding classroom-door locks that can be used from the inside and outside, fortifying school entrances, installing security cameras and allowing teachers or volunteers, in very limited circumstances, to carry guns on campus,” USA Today reports.

None of these are transformative solutions, says Mr. Trump of National School Safety and Security Services, who recently worked with the Connecticut safety council to advise them on best practices in building safety. He tells USA Today that a year ago, all the focus in school safety was on preventing bullying, which has moved to the back burner in favor of emergency drills and preparing for what to do if there's a shooter in a school.

"Schools are trying to reassure parents … but we haven't seen a substantial investment to restore the devastating cuts to school resource officers and restart coordination with local first responders," Mr. Trump says. "It's really going to come down to parents to ask those questions if they want to sustain investment in their children's schools."

Out of the past: Reuters reports that a federal appeals court ruled a lawsuit accusing PNC Financial Services Group Inc. of discriminating against black and Hispanic borrowers cannot proceed as a class action.

While saying its decision was not a "death knell" for other class actions, Reuters says the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals “refused to revive class certification for more than 153,000 minority customers” of the former National City Corp., the Cleveland bank that Pittsburgh-based PNC bought in 2008.

The decision by a three-judge panel of the Philadelphia appeals court “marks the latest fallout from a landmark June 2011 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Wal-Mart Stores Inc v. Dukes, that made it harder to sue corporate defendants as a group,” according to the news service.

Minority borrowers contended that National City had a "discretionary pricing policy" that gave loan officers broad subjective power to tack on points, fees and other costs, Reuters reports. They said this caused them to pay $350 to $1,100 more per loan than similarly situated Caucasian borrowers, violating the federal Fair Housing Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act.

The Anisfield-Wolf award winners will be honored at 6 p.m. on Sept. 12 at the Ohio Theatre downtown. The Cleveland Foundation oversees the award that Cleveland poet and philanthropist Edith Anisfield Wolf established 78 years ago.

Up and down: Forbes.com's coverage of the financial state of all 30 NFL teams — covered extensively here by Crain's SportsBiz blogger Kevin Kleps — includes a short piece with data about stadiums that has some odd numbers for the Cleveland Browns.

Each year, Forbes.com notes, Chicago-based Team Marketing Report surveys NFL teams to track ticket and concession prices as part of their Fan Cost Index. The website uses the data to assemble a graphic on select items.

The Browns “are an interesting anomaly,” according to the data, with the cheapest ticket ($54) and beer prices ($5), but the most expensive hot dogs ($6) in the NFL.

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